JOHN COFFELTEditor

One of the first major repairs to plug ground water getting into the Manchester wastewater system was started Wednesday, Feb. 7 outside City Hall.

Groundwater entering the sewer system (called inflow and infiltration or I&I) is the primary cause of chronic manhole overflows when heavy rains result in I&I that has resulted in a Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation moratorium on new sewer taps in the city.

This repair is a large, early step in the current projects underway to reduce the I&I across the entire system.

“All the rain that’s hitting the street right here is getting into our sewers,” Water and Sewer Director Phillip Miller said. “it’s a good find.”

Vice Mayor Mark Messick called the repair a big deal.

Mayor Marilyn Howard noted that the city’s new camera rover viewing system found the problem.

“This is a major move, in-house, that is going to remove I&I,” Howard said.

To correct the problems with the sewer thus far over the preceding months, the city has contracted a flow study that compared flow levels over the course of a month at various points across the city to get a broad view of where the problems are.

Using that data, the city is piece-by-piece sending its camera ( and is contracting the service for a large line) unit into the problem areas to locate breaks. Some of these problems, like the one on the square, are being repaired in house, while other can be repaired without digging by contractors who use methods like pipe bursting.

John has been with the Manchester Times since May 2011. John has won Tennessee Press Association awards for Best News Photo and placed in numerous other categories. John is a 1994 graduate of Tullahoma High School, a graduate of Motlow State Community College and earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from Middle Tennessee State University. He lives in Tullahoma, enjoys painting, dancing and exploring the outdoors.